In Another Life

A vivid portrait of refugees and of the hopes that sustain them as they seek a new home.

It
is a Syrian refugee named Adnan who, while living in Calais in the camp
known as The Jungle, is heard to declare that in another life he was a
teacher. Jason Wingard's deeply felt film portrays the life of
immigrants in this location desperate to find a way of getting to
England. Indeed, this is a film which, photographed in the real
location, has been described as a blend of drama and documentary.
However, to my mind that is misleading. Jason Wingard, writer as well
as director, certainly adopts a documentary style of filming and some
of his supporting players may not be actors, but essentially this is a
fictional story played out by actors - and that's so
notwithstanding that the tale is one designed to be representative of
the actual experiences of those caught up in this situation.
Consequently, the film to which this piece is closest is Michael
Winterbottom's In This World,
which told of Afghans trying to reach London after American bombing of
their own country had caused them to end up in a refugee camp in
Pakistan. The fact that that film, so similar in theme to this one, was
made as long ago as 2002 is a shocking reminder of just how long these
tragic situations have lasted.

Jason
Wingard's film has other qualities beyond its sincerity. The harsh
atmosphere of its setting is conveyed through the photography for which
the use of black and white 'Scope proves ideal. Furthermore, Andrew
McKee's editing adds to the impact. The film starts in 2015 as it shows
us Adnan's life in the camp where he finds companionship with a fellow
refugee, Yousef. The main narrative that follows is concerned with
these two men and with their attempts to find a way to cross the
Channel, attempts that will see them conned and increasingly desperate
yet ultimately bonded. Their rapport survives the fact that Yousef has
a tendency to bolster his spirits by making false claims regarding
money expected from his family and in doing so exasperates Adnan. Elie
Haddad as Adnan and Yousef Hayyan Jubeh are admirably convincing in
these two leading roles.

Although
many nationalities are represented amongst those in The Jungle, most of
the dialogue is spoken in English and on occasion the accents make it a
challenge to catch every word (Winterbottom's film gained by using a
range of languages with subtitles). More seriously, In Another Life
works less well when it tries through the use of flashbacks to show how
Adnan had left Syria with his wife Bana (Toyah Frantzen) in the hope
that they could reach England together. It might have been best to
insert this back story all in one go since that would fit in readily
when Adnan meets a sympathetic British helper, the medical volunteer
Jane (Elizabeth Bouckley), who expresses an interest in his recent
history. But, instead, Wingard chooses to tell it in bits and pieces
spread throughout the film: the date and location for each short
episode is stated, but that doesn't prevent the film from becoming
decidedly bitty. The sheer scope of Ai Weiwei's recent study of
homeless immigrants, Human Flow, gave that film an impact much greater than that achieved by In Another Life.
Nevertheless, this honourable film conveys all too well the way in
which The Jungle offered an existence that made its inhabitants feel
sub-human.